Come back, Meiko!: A Vocaloid Story
by youremyplus
Summary: It's been 10 years since vocaloids have been created, many things have changed. Meiko stopped singing some years ago, but life is giving her a second chance to fix things in her carreer and between her friends. Will she make it?
1. Chapter 1

-"So, you're the newcomer?" she asked, looking at his clothes and his hair, with an unusual shade of blue.

-"Yeah. I'm inexperienced, maybe you could teach me how this works." he replied, fascinated by her much revealing red outfit. He wondered why a girl like her would wear such short hair.

-"Hmm… Maybe. But then, I don't have the authority to do that. You should ask my superiors, they'll be able to show you the way."

His eyes widened in shock. She laughed at the sight of him; she had also felt that way on her first day.

-"You- I mean we- have _superiors_?" he asked.

-"Of course! They not really superiors, but their positions are higher than ours. We're just regular vocaloids, they're… _special_. They're allowed talk to Crypton, the company we work for. They're very nice, don't worry. Leon-san and Lola-san'll teach you everything they know."

He loosened the scarf around his neck nervously and started to fiddle with the buttons on his jacket. He was very nervous and her presence made him even more nervous. She laughed again, this time with a sweet smile.

-"You seem alright." She smirked, playfully "I can also teach you 'stuff', if you want."

-"That would be… nice" he stuttered "Thank you, by the way, uh…"

-"Meiko." She smiled.

He suddenly felt relaxed. There was nothing to worry about. He knew her name and he felt safe; he had someone to hold on to for some months.

-"My name is Kaito. I'm sure we'll get along fine, right?"

-"I _know_ we will."

They both smiled.

* * *

Gumi slowly entered the room. The natural light coming through the curtains reflected on her flashy orange suit and her neon green hair. She stood on her tiptoes as she approached the bedside.

-"Meiko-san..." she whispered

-"Kaito… You're such… a… dork. But… I still… lov-"she mumbled in her sleep

-"Meiko-san! WAKE UP!" she shouted.

She opened her eyes. She wasn't in the music studio and she wasn't with Kaito; instead, she was in her bedroom and Gumi was by her side. Meiko sat up, covering her face in her hands. Ten years had passed since she first became a vocaloids; nine years since she had met Kaito and three years since she had stopped singing.

-"I need to stop having these dreams…!" she said to herself.

-"Meiko-san…? Please get dressed; we are having a meeting in the living room."

She got out of her bed, put her slippers on and arranged night wear. Gumi looked at her, confused.

-"M-Meiko-san? Don't you want to…? "She pointed at Meiko's closet.

-"What for?" she sighed "I'll go back to bed right after this so called 'meeting'. Nothing to do but waste time…"


	2. Chapter 2

The two vocaloids walked down the stairs. As they both entered the living room, Meiko started to inspect everyone; it had been a long time since she had been with all of them in the same room.

She looked at the first person in her sight; Gakupo. His clothes were updated; he didn't have such a strong samurai resemblance like he used to. She loved his sense of fashion, his way of making purple clothes and nail polish look attractive on a man. He caught her staring and smiled. Meiko reciprocated his feeling by laughing softly.

Having nowhere to sit, she leaned on the wall, next to one of the couches.

-"Meiko-san! Please, sit here!" a high pitched voice said.

She turned and faced a slightly blushing Len. His yellow, black and white clothes and his blonde hair was still the same as Rin's, his twin sister. Nothing had changed in them.

-"Are you sure…? I can stand…" she said.

-"Yes, please! Sit here!" he replied.

She smiled nervously and sat between Gakupo and Rin. Looking up, she saw the others sitting in the couch in front of them; Luka, Miku and Kaito.

Luka was sitting in the middle. Meiko always saw her like a little sister; an amazingly beautiful little sister. She was the tallest among the female vocaloids; her wavy pink hair was straightened. She looked at Meiko and her eyes smiled at her direction.

-"So, why is _she_ here?"

Meiko faced Miku, and her heart filled up with anger. Miku's aquamarine hair was still tied up in two long pigtails. Her clothing was the same and her attitude towards Meiko was still disrespectful. Suddenly, Gumi stood up from her chair and faced Miku.

-"Shut it, Miku!" she shouted "She's a vocaloid too! She belongs here and she's actually importa-"

-"That's enough, Gumi!"

Kaito had stood up and had grabbed her arm. Everyone turned to look at Meiko, who faced Kaito and gave him a glaring look. Kaito softened the grip on Gumi's arm and looked down.

-"Let go of me, Kaito…!" she said as she slapped his hand off her arm.

-"Enough, everyone! Let us all calm down!"

They all stood up as they saw Leon and Lola come inside. Meiko was surprised; they really _were_ her superiors now. Yamaha had handed Crypton over to them five years back. Nothing had changed, but it didn't feel the same to her.

Leon and Lola sat down in two chairs and she took out a big folder full of papers. The excitement grew among them; they all wanted to know what was going on. Meiko crouched in her seat, wondering why, honestly, she _was_ there. She hadn't entered a studio in three years! She didn't even remember her own singing voice anymore.

-"Guys, we are launching a collection of 7 songs. It will be our very first CD! Our theme is the '_Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy and Wrath'_." Leon said.

-"_And_, to make it more special, we will make sure that, when we assign you a 'Sin', you will write the song yourself. You will improve in your creative skills." Lola smiled.

-"Rin and Len…? Your sin is… Pride!" Leon announced.

Rin jumped in her seat, while Len half smiled. Leon and Lola continued announcing the rest of the 'Sins' as Meiko blew her bangs out of her face. Why was she even here if she had nothing to do with that program? She looked up to see Gumi sitting peacefully, not waiting for her turn.

-"Gumi, how come you aren't there with them?"

-"Well, see…"

Suddenly, everyone turned and looked at Meiko. Lola raised her hand and signaled her to come to where she was.

-"What…? Me? Huh?"

Meiko stood up and walked towards Lola. She looked back at Gumi, confused. Then, Gumi replied to her question.

-"I made them choose _you_ instead of me for the song! Have fun!" she smiled widely.

-"WHAAAT?" she sat and faced Leon and Lola. She gulped.

-"Yes, Gumi did sacrifice her 'sin' for you. We hope you take this opportunity to show us that you can get back in the game, Meiko." he said.

-"We hope that you'll be able to get back in the market. But you _have_ to show us that you're really worth re-launching and you're not just wasting our time." she said.

Meiko stood up, speechless, and left the room. Everyone started brainstorming about their songs, but Gakupo went to look for Meiko. It had been long since he had seen her. She had spent the last couple of years in her room, only coming down to get food and water, without saying a word to anyone.

Gakupo searched her room, but found no one. He looked all around the house and, just as he was going to give up, he decided to look in the only place where he hadn't figured Meiko would be in: the hot springs.


	3. Chapter 3

Gakupo knew that he would find Meiko in the hot springs; she always chilled there when she was worried or sad. He wondered why she was sad. She was getting an opportunity of a lifetime; to sing again. Maybe she was scared…

He slided the doors open to find an empty hot springs. Surprisingly, the water was warming up, ready for someone to take a bath in it. He looked left and right; no one to be found.

-"Oh, no…!" he thought "Maybe she's in the water…! SHE'S GOING TO KILL HERSELF!"

At that disturbing thought, he threw himself in the water, not even bothering to take his clothes off. He opened his eyes; no one was underwater. Where was she?

-"I _have _to find her!" he thought, as he rose from the water.

He removed his hair from his face and used his hand to push himself out. Then, his face bumped into something, making him slip and fall into the spring once more.

-"What the…?"

He opened his eyes and looked up, only to find a slightly confused yet smirking Meiko. Gakupo stared at her, full of embarrassment. She was lying down, facing him, and only wearing a bath towel.

-"Did I just, ahem-"he exhaled strongly and put his hand on the back of his head.

-"You kind of did, but it's alright." she raised her eyebrows at him. "S'not like you've never done it before, right?"

He nodded and smiled as she sat down and hopped in the hot springs. She walked towards him.

-"Gakupo, you're not here to wash your clothes. You wash your body." she said.

-"…Or someone washes it for you." he replied, letting go of his clothes.

She looked him in the eyes and he smiled. They were very good friends from the start, but their relationship had become a bit "exclusive" in a way that no one in the house knew. It was complicated to explain, so they did not bother on explaining any further than 'we're just friends'.

-"Are you scared of something, Meiko?" he asked.

-"To be frank, I don't really know." she replied "I feel like I'm getting a chance that I don't deserve… GAH!"

He looked at her with a confused look. She sighed.

-"Yeah, you could say I'm scared."

They looked at each other and laughed. He smiled and slid closer to her while putting his arm around her, making her bare skin feel chilly.

-"You're gonna do fine" he said "You're Meiko, the first Japanese Vocaloid, c'mon!"

-"That doesn't make me any better than any of you guys…" she murmured.

-"Oh, _of course_ not." he replied, sarcastically "All that experience hasn't done you _any_ good… sure, sure."

She laughed and threw water at him. Gakupo laughed and took revenge… Just like the old days, when it was just Kaito, Gakupo and her; the Triumphant Trio. Even though Gakupo didn't work for Crypton, he would visit them everyday, although there were times when it was just Kaito and her; she also treasure those moments.

-"You miss Kaito, don't you?" Gakupo asked, after a while.

She didn't respond; she wasn't sure herself. Kaito had been paired up with Miku for 6 years now; Meiko didn't know what to miss besides the memories… She couldn't even remember what his singing voice sounded like.

-"I'm sorry Gakupo" she said "I don't know how to feel about Kaito right now."

She turned to face him and got closer as she kissed him. He grabbed her hips and pulled her even closer to his body as she wrapped her legs around him.

-"I've missed this…" Gakupo mumbled, with Meiko biting his lower lip.

The kissing became more intense as she moved her hips back and forth towards Gakupo's body. He started kissing her neck softly, going for her chest; pulling her closer by pushing her back with his hand. She started to yelp; only for Gakupo to silence her with another rough kiss.

* * *

After a while they sat, facing each other, in the now even hotter springs. This had been a regular thing when Meiko sang solo but ceased when she stopped singing. They didn't have any romantic feelings for one another. They were lonely people, so they had found each other to become what they liked to call 'Lust Links'.


	4. Chapter 4

Someone knocked on the bedroom's door. Kaito turned his head and got up from his seat. He walked towards the shadow on the other side, but hesitated to slide it open. Finally, he looked at the shadow.

-"Come in." he whispered.

As the door opened, he scratched the back of his head as he saw who the shadow turned out to be. He was feeling very uncomfortable and he wasn't very good at hiding his feelings. She bumped into him as she entered the room.

-"Ouch..!" she shouted, looking up to see Kaito.

-"Meiko..." he sighed.

She could feel his state of being uncomfortable and decided to be polite towards him. She rubbed his arm lightly; Kaito pushed himself away.

-"Hey, am I interrupting something?" she asked.

-"Uh, not really… but um… yeah, no." he replied, nervously.

Meiko walked in the room, with Kaito still scratching his head. She turned around and smiled at him, only for him to look up and sighed.

-"Listen, Meik-"he started to speak.

-"I'm sorry, Kaito." she interrupted him.

He looked at her, with a confused expression on his face.

-"Sorry…? For what?"

Meiko opened her mouth, but no words came out. Kaito sighed again. She paused and, finally, spoke up.

-"I'm not apologizing for anything I've or you've done." she looked him in the eyes "But for all the shit and confusion that's been piling up between us these past years. They're not worth mine or anyone's ego."

Kaito became speechless. That was not the reaction he was expecting from her.

-"Kaito, I should just go… I shouldn't have knocked in the first place." she said, as she headed towards the door.

He suddenly grabbed her arm and made her stop. She looked at him, confusingly. He was looking down.

-"Meiko, I just… This is not what I was looking for to happen between us!" he shouted, with tears running down his cheeks.

She kneeled down in front of him and looked at him, speechless. Her mind was blocked; she didn't know what to do. What _was_ she supposed to do?

-"Hey, _hey_! Why are you crying, Kaito? Get your senses together!" she said

-"Huh?" he replied, looking at her.

She got closer to him, brushed his hair from his face, seeing the tears as they dropped to the floor. She wasn't helping, was she?

-"Get up, come on." she said

As he got up from the floor, she held his right arm and didn't let go until after he was completely stable. They were much closer to each other now. Meiko found it very difficult to breathe and her throat felt stuffy.

-"Uh… I should go." she stuttered "I-I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to make you…yeah."

She left the room quickly and ran. She ran towards her room. Once there, she fell against the wall and put her head between her legs, all curled up. Images of Kaito crying and screaming wouldn't stop appearing in her mind. The more she thought about him, the harder she cried.

Suddenly, someone came in the room and shook her to see huge bags under her eyes. She crawled into their arms as the shadow laid her down on her bed. Meiko, feeling even more scared yet safe, she curled up again and held her pillow tightly. She'd closed her eyes and did not open them; forcing herself to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Meiko woke up to a fresh and yet crispy smell. She opened her eyes and shouted in fear; a silhouette was next to her, covered in sheets. She moved away from it until she discovered who it belonged to.

-"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED, GAKUPO?"

Her voice startled him and made him fall off the bed, the sheets coming down with him. He sat and rubbed his head. Meiko jumped across the bed, kneeled and looked down at him. She shouted at him while grabbing the back of his hair towards her, with Gakupo screaming in pain.

-"Why in the world are you here!" she asked, furiously.

-"Meiko, chill!"

She pulled his hair tighter, which made Gakupo shout even louder. She, on the other hand, covered his mouth with a pillow.

-"You want me to _chill_, Gakupo?" she sat down next to him, letting go off his hair and the pillow "Look, I know we were fuck buddies back then but… Just don't start appearing in my bed like you used to, ok?"

-"But we shared this room, didn't we?" he asked as he got up and looked at her.

-"Gakupo… I'm still getting used to being around you guys and having work and everything. Give me a break, please?"

She stood up and he placed the sheets back on top of the bed. Meiko sighed in relief; he was wearing underwear. She watched him as he put his clothes and shoes on. Before walking out of the room, he looked at her and smiled.

-"I won't come back, I promi-"

-"I didn't say that you _couldn't_ come back." she smiled back "It's just that, umm…"

He laughed softly, walked to her side and held her chin. She widened her eyes, not knowing what to expect. He just smiled and kissed her cheek.

-"Not to worry, Meiko. I have a spare room with someone, luckily." he said.

He let go of her chin, winked at her and walked to the already opened door. She tilted her head and lifted one of her eyebrows.

-"With someone?" she thought "What's he talking about?"

Realizing his slip of tongue, he waved goodbye and closed the door. Meiko sat on her bed, wondering what Gakupo could've been talking about.

Thinking about Gakupo, she remembered that it was her first day to get back to "work". She showered nervously and put the outfit that she hadn't worn in years in a long, long time; a red leather vest an skirt, brown knee-high boots and a black, rather revealing, undershirt. She was surprised and happy that it still fit her like a glove.

After drying herself with her towel, she combed her hair and brushed her teeth; she felt too nervous to eat breakfast. As she washed her face, she saw someone leaning on the side of the bathroom door.

-"Getting ready, I see." Luka laughed "Well, you're looking as hot as ever, Meiko."

-"Thanks, Luka." Meiko smiled as she dried her face with her hand towel.

-"You'll do awesome." Luka said to her as they walked out of the bedroom, heading to the living room.

Everyone, including Leon and Lola, was gathered in the living room, just like the previous day. Meiko sat facing Kaito, feeling as uncomfortable she had felt the night before. For some unknown reason, she started to stare at Miku. What were the reasons that made Miku hate her so much? Because of Kaito? Maybe. Possibly. But, she was the one who was with Kaito now, not Meiko. Was it because she had one of the Kaito's things that she didn't…?

-"Couldn't be _that_…" Meiko though to herself "They've probably done it already…"

After Leon and Lola were finished with the few announcements, they headed to the music studio. As Meiko entered it, she felt chills running down her spine. Everything was ready for the Vocaloids to sing their hearts out. Leon gathered them and asked each one for their song lyrics and music. Meiko looked anxiously around her; she did not know that she was supposed to have finished the song yesterday.

-"Uhm, Lola-sama… I don't have a song prepared." Meiko said, quietly.

-"No? But I told Gakupo to give you the schedule sheet yesterday so that you would have the whole day to work on your song!" Lola replied, confusingly.

Meiko ground her teeth and glared at Gakupo, with her face lighting up in anger. Leon looked around him and sighed.

-"Do any one of you have a song?" Luka stood up and came closer, handing him a paper "Well, consider yourself lucky, Meiko."

Hours passed and Luka's song was edited and ready. They were all tired from being in the studio for such a long time, doing nothing, except Gumi, who'd been cheering for Luka the whole time.

-"That was great!" Gumi squealed, as they all walked out of the room, headed towards the dining room, hungry for lunch.

They sat around the table, waiting impatiently for Kaito's amazing cooking. Just as the food was being served, Len noticed that Meiko hadn't tagged along with them.

-"Kaito-san, if you don't mind, I'll bring some of the food to Meiko-san".

-"Oh, sure." he replied, and added more fruit to the spare plate Len was holding. "She needs to eat more…"

After getting some water and food, Len headed upstairs. Carefully carrying both his plate and Meiko's, he knocked on her bedroom's door. He smiled as she opened the door and greeted him with a surprised look on her face.

-"I thought you'd be hungry, even though you're busy writing your song." he said, sweetly.

-"Oh, yeah, thanks." she said, having completely forgotten about the song.

She took her plate, thanked him, and invited him to come in. He stepped in and looked around him; an unmade bed on a corner, a coffee table right in the centre filled with old magazines, a small fridge on the left side of her bed, clothes spread all over the floor, with a fragrance of black coffee. He then focused on Meiko, sitting on the side of the bed, eating slowly.

-"Meiko-san, don't you get tired of being… alone?" he asked, as he sat down by her side.

-"Not really, no." she replied "You get used to it after a couple of months."

-"Oh…" he murmured.

-"Hey, what kind of song can I write about_ gluttony_?" she cried desperately, only to find Len staring at her, tilting his head in confusion. "Yes, I was lucky enough to get gluttony. I just don't know what the fuck to say about it."

-"Well, there are…" he thought and said "…eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia…"

-"Gluttony means eating too much, as in you're obsessed with eating. It's sick." Meiko sighed and slouched down "Anorexia and bulimia are different."

Len thought hard; there had to be something! He wanted to help Meiko with all his heart; help her get back to the top. He closed his eyes and thought of things that popped up when he pictured the word "gluttony". Many things concerning food disorders, but weren't good enough. Suddenly, a familiar movie came up; a movie with a disturbing plot. Shivers went up his spine at the thought of a song pertaining to that film; but this was better than nothing.

-"Meiko-san… how about, uh, cannibalism?" he stuttered, waiting for a scream of disgust, but she only looked at him with surprise.

-"That's not a bad idea, Len… It can get pretty ugly if it's too explicit, though." she replied.

-"How about going from food to people? Like, the person went _cuckoo bananas_ or something?" he suggested, and Meiko listened to the rest of the ideas he had to share with her. When he finished, they started brainstorming for the name, place, and plot; this lead to the composing of the song: lyrics, rhythm and melody.

After five hours of hard work, laughs and lots of coffee for Meiko and tea for Len, the song was finished. They stood up and he invited her to come and have dinner with the rest of the crew, but she refused.

-"I need to put the final touches so it'll be just perfect." she laughed, and Len closed the door behind him and headed downstairs. Meiko sipped some coffee and raised the paper to her eye view; this was perfect.

This song was going to be the start of a new rebirth; greatness was just around the corner.


End file.
